false 2102532 1 The Grand Poobah of Rock Criticism and longtime <I>Village Voice</i> contributor rates 3,000 releases in this dandy book, which belongs on the night table of every self-respecting music fan. Robert Christgau's tastes are admirably catholic: refusing to limit himself to solid rock, he takes on rap, hardcore, country, blues, reggae, worldbeat, and everything in between. His vest-pocket pronunciamentos are always fun to read--even when they seem perversely wrongheaded--and who else would zoom in on Ruben Blades's "ability to skip along the shores of schlock without ruining his best pair of shoes," or refer to "Amazing Grace" as "the 'Send in the Clowns' of roots music"? Who else, for that matter, could <I>almost</I> persuade you to run out and pick up <I>The Very Best of Deep Purple</I>? 2107896 9 1994 Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s total:8|5:4|4:3|2:1| 8 34 11 0 4 0 false false Wed Sep 02 14:09:23 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 02 14:09:23 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Mar 31 05:17:30 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 31 05:17:30 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Dec 14 13:55:39 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 14 13:55:45 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Tue Aug 12 19:31:32 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 12 19:31:32 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Mon Jul 14 07:50:52 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 14 07:50:52 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Sat Apr 05 08:06:38 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 05 08:06:38 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Sun Mar 30 12:30:04 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 30 16:24:09 -0700 2008 2 0 false false Mon Mar 03 17:14:39 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 03 17:14:39 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Mon Feb 11 19:40:16 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 11 19:40:16 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Wed Nov 14 09:55:26 -0800 2007 Thu Oct 09 07:56:22 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Mon Oct 29 10:41:33 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 29 10:41:33 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2102532